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When Procter & Gamble was formed in 1837 by Mr. William Procter, a candle maker, and Mr. James Gamble, a soap maker, soaps were marketed in different forms. Some were sold in long bars or smaller sizes called cakes, others in slabs that grocer sliced and weighed like cheese. Many soaps were marketed without wrappers and originally did not have "brand" names as we are used to seeing today. These soap products were used for all types of cleaning chores, such as scrubbing floors, doing laundry and bathing. Unfortunately, little information has survived describing these early products. Below is information about some of our early products, grouped according to the eras in which they were marketed. 1830s - 1840s The earliest advertisement for Procter & Gamble in a Cincinnati newspaper in 1838 listed our principle products as Palm Oil soap, Rosin soap, Toilet and Shaving Soap and Tallow Candles. 1850s - 1860s "Brand" names and wrappers first began to appear. Company products in the early 1850s included No. 1, Extra®, German, Oleine and White Soda soaps along with several varieties of general toilet soap, star and tallow candles, lard oil and starch. Oleine Soap — A hard, rough, red oil soap for general household uses. It had a violet scent. Star Candles — A generic name for candles made from the stearic acid, which produced a clean, white light. 1870s - 1880s National advertising of some brand names began. Procter & Gamble's most famous soap, Ivory®, appeared on the market in 1879. Ivory is one of the first truly all-purpose soaps—gentle enough for personal cleansing but strong enough for household cleaning. Until this time, different soaps were needed for different tasks. Sold along with Ivory were brands such as White, Famous, Perfect, Queen Olive, Topaz, Handy, Town Talk, Good Luck, Blue, Princess Olive, Duchess Olive, Very Good, Countess Olive, Toilet, Green Seal, Polo, Japan Olive, Simon Pure, Yellow Erasive, German Olive, Lenox, Velvet and Golden Bar. No information exists on most of these brands. It is likely that many of these brands were marketed for specific cleaning tasks and may have been adapted for water conditions in different parts of the country. Polo — First sold during this period, Polo was revived in a small market in the 1930's as a red, carbolic soap. Lenox — A yellow laundry bar which was a leading brand until shortly after the turn of the century when laundry bars with naphtha became popular. Ivory — During the early 20th century, the number of different brands began to slowly decline as sales moved toward the more popular brands that advertised. At the same time, Procter & Gamble purchased some other brands: Fairy Soap — competitor to Ivory that was marketed by N.K. Fairbanks Company of Chicago IL near the turn of the century. In England, Fairy Soap was originally marketed by Thomas Hedley LTD. This British brand was acquired by Procter & Gamble, and we currently market Fairy products in Europe. Gold Dust Soap — A product of N. K. Fairbanks Company and advertised by the famous Gold Dust Twins. Swan Soap — A white floating soap marketed by Lever Brothers in the 1940s. Tag Soap — A brown laundry soap marketed by the Werk Soap Co. of Cincinnati. Octagon— A laundry bar marketed by Colgate®. Metal Coupons We receive numerous inquiries about small metal coins with price-off or buy-one-get-one-free offers imprinted on them. These are actually coupons that were issued by Procter & Gamble and other companies in the late 1920's. They were discontinued because they were more expensive to produce than paper coupons and harder to redeem. History of Crest History of Head & Shoulders History of Ivory History of Max Factor History of Noxell History of Old Spice History of Tampax Past Soap Products
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